When in Rome

This week has just been one of those weeks which is why I’ve been absent since Sunday. Hopefully everyone had a safe & fun 4th of July! It’s hard to believe it’s already July. I meant to write this on Tuesday but unruly citizens partying and lighting off fireworks all night has kept work pretty busy. Better late than never though. I have pictures to go along with it but I didn’t think to take them off the camera so I could upload them but I’ll probably do that sometime this weekend!

Thanks for everyone’s tips and advice for flying with crutches! It was surprisingly easy. I called earlier in the week and United was able to upgrade my seats. On the way to Chicago a friend drove me to the airport and hauled my luggage in since that was the one thing I couldn’t manage. After checking in I was able to get wheelchair assistance to the gate. It was very nice being able to zip through security (which is always busy whenever we go through the main one) but I hate the feeling of being in a wheelchair. It really brings out the control freak side of me. When we got to the gate I sat right next to the door for the jetway so I told the lady I was fine to board on my own and wouldn’t need assistance. My carry on bag was a little difficult to carry with crutches but I figured I could make it the short distance to the plane. Unfortunately it turns out that the door was actually to a hallway that led to another hallway that led to the jetway so…it pretty much sucked carrying my stupid bag. (I ended up buying a different bag in Milwaukee to eliminate that for my return flight.) Being able to board first is really nice until you realize that you’re going to have to get up whenever your aisle mates arrive. On the flight to Chicago the flight attendant wasn’t able to take my crutches right away so I had to shove some people out of the aisle in order to let people in. The flight was smooth until the end when we diverted due to storms in Chicago. The ride was a little bumpier than I like (I’m the one taking deep breaths and clenching my hands together). It didn’t help that the two little boys sitting behind me went “Wooo!” and giggled every time the plane bumped. I did my best to take a 15 minute nap to try and drown out my fears.

After my arrival in Chicago my sister and I headed up to Milwaukee to meet friends for Summerfest. Summerfest is known as “The World’s Largest Music Festival” and I’m inclined to believe it. It’s held on a 75-acre festival grounds and there are wall to wall people and then probably a few thousand more. This is just the people hanging out, there are still more attending concerts. One of the amphitheaters holds over 20,000 people and there are 10 other concert venues on the grounds. I ditched the crutches Friday because we were sitting the whole time and we parked pretty close. I soon realized that crutches and cam boot + thousands of people = disaster.

Because the boot rolls, which throws off my balance, I opted not to wear it Saturday and just tough it out. I decided against the wheel chair as well because a) the whole control thing and b) there were just too many people to safely and quickly maneuver it. Seriously insane doesn’t even begin to explain how crowded it is! Friday night we spent some time downtown and it dawned on me that while I grew up in Wisconsin I had never been to Milwaukee. There is a lot to see so I’d like to take a trip there when it’s not so crowded. On Saturday we went to Jason Aldean. I’m not a huge fan of country music so I wasn’t sure how much I would enjoy the concert. The company I was with and the atmosphere of the concert made it a really good time but I’m not buying any country albums anytime soon. (Does anyone even buy CD’s anymore??) The only part of the weekend that was irritating was when it came time for transportation. The festival only offered shuttles to a park-n-ride or to local bars and getting a cab is impossible. Finally, after 2 1/2 hours, we got a cab and by then we were worn out and just wanted to get back the hotel. And of course the main beer sold on the grounds is Miller Lite but it was a when in Rome kind of situation so we just went with it.

The rest of the trip was uneventful. We went back to Chicago on Sunday and I took an all day nap and then went to bed. I flew home on Monday and for a moment considered just crutching to my gate. Security at O’Hare has always a breeze when I’m there so I didn’t think it was necessary to get assistance. I did it anyway and was so thankful because I always forget the size of that airport.

Later that night W and I went to Geeks Who Drink pub trivia where we got the best laugh of the night when, upon being asked what prestigious award 3 different people had won we answered “Most Likely To Succeed.” The answer was the Nobel Prize of Literature. We were close… The quiz master encourages clever answers instead of leaving the line blank and we had to come up with A LOT of clever answers. Usually we end up in the middle of the score range but Monday we tied for last place!

It’s supposed to storm all weekend so I plan on watching old episodes of “The Killing” and taking lots of naps. Gus (my foot’s nickname) is still recovering from being horribly mistreated last weekend. Having a foot injury is the best excuse to do absolutely nothing. 🙂

It was a lot of fun but the entire trip and tickets were paid for so in that sense yes, it was worth it. Unless that happened again or there was a very rare concert I probably wouldn’t go back since I live so far away. If I lived closer, like you, I’d go just to experience it or to see someone I really enjoyed in concert.